Martin Bramah

Martin Bramah (born 18th September 1957) is a British musician best known as a founder member of The Fall, Blue Orchids and Factory Star.

Bramah met Mark E. Smith and original keyboard player Una Baines towards the end of 1975; Bramah and founding bassist Tony Friel were friends with Smith's sister Barbara. Originally, he was slated to be the group's vocalist but when Smith failed to learn even rudimentary guitar, he and Bramah swapped roles. Bramah would remain in the band until April 1979, leaving mid-tour due to increasing tension between him and Smith. Simon Ford states in "Hip Priest" that Bramah's relationship with Baines was one cause of this.

Bramah, alongside Baines then formed Blue Orchids, releasing an album and a clutch of singles on Rough Trade Records. The group also acted as a backing band for Nico during her 1982 UK tour; they can be heard on the Do or Die: Nico in Europe album. The group disbanded at the end of 1982, briefly reforming in 1985 for a further single. After this Bramah formed a new group named Thirst with ex-Fall drummer Karl Burns.

In 1989, Bramah unexpectedly returned to The Fall, taking the place of Brix Smith who had recently left. Bramah admitted to Simon Ford that his contact with Mark E. Smith around this time was not fortuitous; he had known of Smith's marital split and actively sought to rejoin The Fall. He stayed for the recording of Extricate before being fired in Australia in August 1990. Following this he formed a fresh incarnation of Blue Orchids (this time alongside guitarist Craig Gannon) releasing some singles, but their album would remain unreleased until 2003. A further return to The Fall was mooted around 1998 but, although Bramah rehearsed with some of the group's members, the reunion never took place.

Since then, Bramah steered fresh incarnations of Blue Orchids, releasing new albums and EPs, as well as overseeing reissues of the group's earliest material before becoming a solo artist in 2008, releasing the folk-influenced The Battle of Twisted Heel.

In early 2009, he formed a new group, Factory Star, initially featuring Tim Lyons and Brian Benson (of The Sandells), subsequently featuring fellow ex-Fall members Steve Hanley on bass, Paul Hanley on drums and Hop Man Jr of Gnod, and the Monochrome Set on keyboards. The Hanleys departed during 2010 to be replaced by Chris Dutton (formerly of Sicknurse, and now in the revived Hamsters) and Tom Lewis. The debut album Enter Castle Perilous was released on Occultation Records in March 2011.